OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – For the first time in the history of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), Competitive Cheer & Dance Champions will be crowned this weekend in Abe Lemons Arena, on the campus of Oklahoma City University. The Central Methodist University competitive dance team will be among 12 squads competing for the first-ever title, as the seven Lady Eagles take center stage.
The competition for the two championships will begin with preliminaries on Friday, with the cheer competition starting at 4:30 p.m. and the dancers to follow at 6:45 p.m. The scores of the competitors will count for 25% of each teams' final scores.
They will then compete in the finals on Saturday in reverse order, with the highest finisher in the prelims performing last. The cheer finals will get underway at 10 a.m., with the dance competitors battling it out beginning at 12:15 p.m.
The parade of teams and awards ceremony is scheduled for 2:25 p.m.
MORE ABOUT THE NAIA COMPETITIVE CHEER AND DANCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Championship Information – CLICK HERE
Official Championships Program (PDF) – CLICK HERE
How to Watch the Championships – CLICK HERE
Schedule and Updated Results – CLICK HERE
Central Methodist Dance Roster – CLICK HERE
Historic Promo of first National Championship (PDF) – CLICK HERE
For the past two years, Cheer & Dance has been classified as an 'Emerging Sport' in the NAIA. This is the first year competitors in the co-ed sports have been able to compete for a true NAIA National Championship.
Dance teams, such as the Lady Eagles, had to compete in at least three regular season competitions to be eligible to advance to the four regional championships. Central Methodist traveled to Lindenwood University at Belleville (Ill.) last weekend, where they finished fourth.
The NAIA then selected the 12-best scoring dance teams in the country to qualify and battle for the elite title this weekend. The squads were chosen for their top score, with no maximum number of teams allowed to qualify from any particular region. The Lady Eagles scored 76.03 points at the NAIA Qualifying Tournament and received an at-large bid into the national championships.
Two CMU dancers, junior Savanna Nault (JR/High Ridge, Mo.) and freshman Kadee Dempsey (FR/Columbia, Mo.), earned honorable mention All-American. They will be joined by sophomores Catherine Dovin (SO/Jackson, Mo.), Scarlett McMullen (SO/Palmyra, Mo.) and Emma Siegel (SO/Chicago, Ill.), along with freshmen Kristin Hill (FR/Pacific, Mo.) and Heidi Treuner (FR/Sedalia, Mo.) in the national championships.
"Throughout the season we have made a lot of changes to our routine," said fifth-year CMU head coach Terin Fuemmeler. "Halfway through (the season) we did a complete music and costume change. We continually made improvements and added difficulty to try to 'up the ante' a little bit more."
Other institutions which will be represented in the Competitive Dance National Championship include: Aquinas (Mich.); Baker (Kan.); Grand View (Iowa); Lindenwood-Belleville (Ill.); Midland (Neb.); Missouri Baptist; Morningside (Iowa); Oklahoma City; Siena Heights (Mich.); St. Ambrose (Iowa); and Stephens (Mo.).
Fuemmeler said it has been a seamless transition from the past two seasons of transition into a sanctioned NAIA sport.
"Other than the title change from an invitational to a championship, the process has been the same for the last couple of years," the CMU coach explained. "We've been used to the process as to how to get here, so the NAIA did a real nice job of setting up to get to this point."
The Lady Eagles' coach said she knew heading into the 2017 season that her squad had a shot at getting to the championship.
"I said from the beginning of competition in late January that we were capable of getting here," she stated. "Our cheer team had notoriously done well, winning back-to-back conference championships. This year the dance team was the most elite – as far as talent – since I've been here. I expressed my biggest goal has been to get both teams to Nationals and we came very close to doing that."
Fuemmeler said one of the keys was the leadership of her three leaders – captain Savanna Nault and co-captains Scarlett McMullen and Emma Siegel.
"We had to overcome some adversity this year," Fuemmeler stated. "We've had some alternates that had to step in. We've also dealt with injuries. But the biggest reason is my three captains are all returning from last season and they came in with a great deal of experience. Our freshmen on our competition team came from very competitive dance backgrounds.
"And I think another big key has been the fact that we've been able to take our critics' from judges all season long and make continuing improvements to the routine and make it more difficult to improve our scores all season long."
The Lady Eagles will now battle for the first-ever title on center stage this weekend.
2017 NAIA COMPETITIVE CHEER & DANCE
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
March 10-11
at Abe Lemons Arena
Oklahoma City, Okla.
Schedule of Events
Friday, March 10
Preliminary Cheer Competition, 4:30 p.m.
Preliminary Dance Competition, 6:45 p.m.
FINALS
Saturday, March 11
Final Round Cheer Competition, 10 a.m.
Final Round Dance Competition, 12:15 p.m.
Parade of Teams & Awards Ceremony, 2:25 p.m.
CMU Competitive Cheer & Dance Contact: John Krueger
Phone: 936-332-9332 | jkrueger@centralmethodist.edu
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CMU Cheer & Dance: Twitter
Website: www.CMUEagles.com
